If you’re human, you will have some sort of trial come your way. It’s a guarantee. You may lose a job, have a spouse walk away from you, or contract a life-threatening disease. There are smaller trials – like an unrelenting boss, a rebellious child, or a financial loss – that are no less trying.
On Monday, I started a post called, “Don’t Waste Your Trial.” And there’s more to be said.
We’re really not supposed to buckle in and wait for the wild ride to end. We are meant to embrace our trial and actually benefit from it.
I wrote about three principles
You will waste your trial is you believe it is a curse, and not a gift.
You waste your trial if you fail to rejoice
You will waste your trial if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
Here are three more:
You will waste your trial is you spend too much time analyzing the situation trial and not enough time knowing more about God
It’s not wrong to research career opportunities if you are unemployed. It’s not wrong to read about that blood disease. It’s not wrong to read about the walk-away spouse, to visit with people and get their opinions. But it is wrong to spend too much time in head knowledge, and not enough time in heart repair.
Your trial is meant to awaken you to the reality of God. This is your chance — finally — to clear your head and figure out Jesus and get to know him fully
You will waste your trial if you endure it alone.
We are mortified that others will discover our scars, our open wounds. We usually hide them — and try to make a go of it alone. Your need gives others an opportunity to respond. How many times have you heard about someone who has been sick, or who lost a loved one, or who has a relationship on the rocks, and it’s been weeks or months since it’s happened. You feel crushed. You could have helped.
In your trial, you will need your brothers and sisters to walk with you, to live out their faith beside you, to love you. And one day, you can do same to them.
You will waste your trial if you fail to use it as a pointer to God’s truth
“They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness to truth.” (Luke 21:12 -13).
So it is with cancer or job loss or emotional loss. There is a golden opportunity to show there are things more important than life on this earth. Don’t let them slip by.
Don’t Waste Your Trial!
I owe much to the original thoughts of John Piper and Marvin Olasky about this subject.
Photo Credit, Simply Darlene. used with permission
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Read all past issues at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidrupert
Read all past issues at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidrupert
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